


don't stop imagining

by dropadragon



Category: LISA (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, its MY Canon Now Dingaling nd I Get to Give Lisa a gbc, its jst lisa nd brad playing pkmn silver on a gbc w sm character study thrown in. thts it, like Specifically This. i refuse to believe this didnt happen, rated teens bcs its th lisa rpgs, theres no like Active Abuse happening ofc bt they r still kids living in an abusive household So, would u believe me if i said this ws actually a RLY Dearly held headcanon of mine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22656952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dropadragon/pseuds/dropadragon
Summary: It must be enough now, at least, to see her enjoy the game he’d bought for her, in any capacity livening the miserable life they both had been born into. They could at least pretend, like this, they were a normal family.Brad gives Lisa a gift.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	don't stop imagining

Peace was rare in the Armstrong household. Lisa was never able to recall a time where she didn’t have to hide constantly, crouching or crawling to the bathroom or kitchen, like a lost animal in the midst of a lion’s den. When they came, she held them close.

Days where Marty got too drunk to move or stand - where he’d be passed out on the couch, unmoving and rigid for the rest of the day. Quiet days where Lisa could sit under her window (with the blinds open this time) and just… soak in the sunlight. No worry of loud footsteps or the sound of bottles being broken. Lisa guarded these scarce moments of peace in her heart ferociously and carefully, knowing that whenever the howling in the living room began again, she could call upon these days in her mind and somehow, _somehow_ be transported to sitting in the sunlight once more.

(Mom would talk about enjoying the light often, in the VHS tapes hidden behind the kitchen cabinet. Lisa wanted in whatever measure to feel closer to the kind woman on the screen, who would sing gentle lullabies and do things like braid her own hair. While Lisa found her own terrible and a bother, she thought her mother’s long hair was gorgeous.)

Though it was “uneventfulness” rather than actual _safety_ , Lisa could no longer differentiate between the two. She’d take whatever she could get. It was one such day, where Lisa sat under her window, wiping her pendant with the clean (if a bit crumpled) tissue she saved in her pocket, that she heard a knock on the door. She tensed, hands frozen mid-action.

“Lisa?” a voice came quietly through the door. “It’s Brad, can I come in?” Unconsciously, she breathed a sigh of relief. Lisa couldn’t conjure why she froze in the first place, Marty never needed to knock when he wanted in.

Pushing the unpleasant thought out of her mind, she stuffed the tissue back into her pocket and wore her necklace. Lisa walked towards the door, as quietly as she could, and gently turned the knob so Brad could come in. He was clutching something in his hands, Lisa could make out its purple blur as Brad sat on her floor, inching to her window where the light streamed in.

“What’s that,” Lisa pointed to the strange object in Brad’s hands. It sounded more like a demand than a question, but Brad understood that Lisa had trouble with tone.

“I got it last year,” Brad motioned for her to sit next to him. “I’m sorry I never showed you. But, yesterday- Rick and I went to that fancy store near the school, the one with the TVs. I’ve been saving up a little and I got this,” he pulled something from the object (Lisa guessed it was some kind of game console) and held it up for her. The sticker on it was frayed, but Lisa could make out some kind of creature on it - like a dragon. Its logo was colourful and bright, “POKÉMON” it boasted, and when she squinted her eyes she could make out the words “SILVER VERSION” on the bottom of the sticker. Lisa tilted her head. It must’ve been a used copy.

“So, um,” Brad slid the cartridge back into the purple device, which Lisa could now make out was called a “Game Boy Color”. (She found it amusing that the word “Color” was, well, multi-coloured. It was a nice touch.) “I already have a game, and I felt bad that you don’t have any toys and stuff so this is… It’s for you, Lisa.”

“Huh?” the girl in question almost did a double-take. “But that thing’s yours.”

“We could share,” Brad offered, still holding the Gameboy in his hands. “It’s alright, really. It’s not like we can get two Gameboys.” Lisa stared at the ground. Unconsciously, she gripped her knees - she couldn’t understand why Brad would do something so kind for her. It wasn’t like she’d asked him to go get it for her, she didn’t even know what most video games were. And yet, something as small as being offered a game made her feel… It made her feel…

“Ok,” Lisa said simply. She leaned close to Brad to see the screen as he turned it on. The light cascading from the window definitely helped with seeing the screen, though at points the glass caught it wrong, and Lisa struggled not to be blinded by the sunlight. Brad must’ve been used to this. “How do you play?”

Brad held the gameboy closer to her, and Lisa watched wordlessly and the screen flickered and clicked - stars and the beginnings of a game logo - before it showed a scene underwater with vague shapes (Lisa guessed maybe they were animals, but the sunlight obfuscated that detail). The screen then rose, and the music swelled as it focused on another creature, Brad would later tell her it was a “Lapras”. Lisa watched in awe, listening to the melody played softly from the Gameboy’s speakers, with Brad carefully holding the Gameboy so she’d be able to see it all. It was truly unlike anything Lisa had ever experienced, in her small, small world. The screen flickered to its title screen, with the creature on the cartridge’s sticker swimming in a dark ocean. 

Brad pushed a button or two, and Lisa watched as he maneuvered the game’s menu with astonishing ease - flickering between “OPTION” and “NEW GAME”. (Lisa felt inwardly jealous that Brad had enough time to learn how video games worked, when all she had to do around the house was sit under her window or hide from Marty. At least he was giving her a chance to play, though, she decided.)

“It’s 12 now, right?” He fiddled with the buttons as the screen asked for the time. Lisa glanced outside, squinting her eyes at the sun and the trees.

“‘think so,” she mumbled. There weren’t any clocks in the Armstrong household, time was mostly told by watching the shadows outside, or listening to when the blaring noise of the TV in the living room shut off. Lisa and Brad did the best they could, given their circumstances. Brad nodded and held out the Gameboy for her to take, done with whatever he was doing.

It felt clumsy in Lisa’s hands. She was wholeheartedly unfamiliar with games, it felt like she was holding something so arcane and magical - all Lisa wanted to do was watch the pictures that flickered on the screen and listen to the chiptune melody emanating from its speakers. However, Brad was patient enough, and he explained to her the basics as he watched her cycle through the game’s beginning text.

“So like, there’s a professor who tells you how Pokémon works and stuff, and he asks for your name,” Brad craned his head over to watch Lisa read through the text, pressing A at uneven intervals. “You can only play as a boy though, sorry.” Lisa made a noncommittal noise in response as she inputted her name. 

The next hour flew by in a breeze, with Brad watching Lisa pick her starter (it was a Cyndaquil, she liked how cute it looked) and traverse through the beginning towns. From travelling back and forth from New Bark Town to Cherrygrove City and beating the first gym, Lisa caught quite a few Pokémon on her own and cycled between using them often. 

“Does she become anything cool?” Lisa pointed at her Cyndaquil’s sprite, flicking through its status screen.

“I don’t know, nobody I know picked Cyndaquil,” Brad watched as Lisa read the descriptions of its moveset. She was learning fast. “And, Lisa, your Cyndaquil’s a boy. Says so right here, see?” He pointed at the little symbol next to its Pokédex number.

There was a pause. Lisa then shrugged, blowing a raspberry. Brad took that answer as “whatever”.

Other than the rare moments where Lisa would ask where to go or what to do, the two sat in silence, watching the Gameboy screen with the sunlight that poured from the window. Instances where the Armstrong siblings could bond without the threat of the man drinking himself to death in their living room were few and far in between, as with peaceful days, and if one looked at the two of them as they played Pokémon together - you never would have guessed that Brad essentially raised Lisa all by himself.

Brad wonders, often, if he did alright, if Mom would be happy with how Lisa’s grown up - he was only a young boy when Marty thrust the task of Lisa’s care to him. He shook the thought out of his head. He thought of Mom often when he goes to check on Lisa. It must be enough now, at least, to see her enjoy the game he’d bought for her, in any capacity livening the miserable life they both had been born into. They could at least pretend, like this, they were a normal family. 

Then, Lisa broke the silence. She jabbed at the D-Pad of the Gameboy, her character walking aimlessly and bumping into trees.

“‘think I’m lost,” she titled the Gameboy so Brad could see better. It was Ilex Forest, but Brad couldn’t recognise which section it was.

“I think you’re supposed to find the Farfetch’d,” Brad guessed, watching Lisa’s character wander the forest, completely lost. “Here,” he extended his hand towards the Gameboy, motioning for her to give it to him.

However, Lisa wouldn’t budge. She inched the Gameboy slightly away from Brad’s hand, making it clear that she wasn’t going to relent so easily.

“I can do it myself,” she argued, shaking her head to get her hair out of her eyes. (She really needed a haircut, Lisa was getting annoyed with just how often hair fell into her eyes.) “Just tell me where to go.”

“I can’t do that unless you give me the Gameboy,” Brad retorted, once again motioning for her to give it to him. He was getting frustrated. “I don’t know where you are in Ilex Forest so I can’t tell you.” Lisa grumbled in response, continuing in her futile attempt to make it through on her own. 

“‘m not a baby, Brad, I can-“

A slam was heard downstairs.

The two froze instantly. Their gazes turned towards the door, in anticipation of any other noise that would follow. Lisa, still holding the Gameboy, felt her hands go numb. Inwardly, she cursed at herself for being stubborn and not listening to her brother, as if her refusal to let him help her with the game had somehow caused Marty to awaken. As if any terrible thing that could now happen was somehow her fault. It was silly, but in her fear-addled mind Lisa believed it wholeheartedly. The air was still, and despite the sunlight on their backs the room felt very, very cold. Neither of them dared to break their gaze from the door.

When it became obvious that Marty wasn’t coming after them (Lisa counted in her head: one, two, three minutes, didn’t hear the heavy sound of his footsteps up the stairs), they heaved a collective sigh of relief. Tentatively, Lisa looked over at her brother, who was probably just as shaken as she was. Brad returned her gaze, slowly, and glanced towards the floor. In the sunlight it was easy to see, they both had their father’s brown eyes. How could they have been so foolish? Of course, they couldn’t even enjoy a simple moment of peace together. Not in this house. Not with this man.

The mood effectively ruined, Brad slowly turned to get up. Lisa almost made a sound, but it felt safer to stay silent - they both knew it was probably safer if Brad returned to his room. They couldn’t take their chances, now that they were reminded that it was possible for Marty to storm in at any time. He looked over to his sister wordlessly, in a gaze that asked her to simply be safe, Brad opened the door and slid out of the room, leaving Lisa alone. 

She watched the door for a while longer after Brad left, and in some emotion she couldn’t name, Lisa raised her fist and banged it on the dirty carpeted floor, thick enough that it wouldn’t make much sound. Lisa kept her hand clenched, wanting to slam it down again, but she (albeit, with struggle) drew in a deep breath and only sighed. There was no point getting angry. This was life. This was _her_ life. Lisa got to her feet and placed the Gameboy under her bed, it was safe there and less dirty than other spots of her room. 

Resigned to wait out the rest of the day, she climbed onto her bed and attempted to sleep however she could. The blanket was thin and there was no pillow, but Lisa decided she would rather keep the memory of this day as a good one than be awake to see Marty burst into her room. He would have to pry it from her cold, dead hands - along with her other good memories, of leaning against the TV with the volume all the way down, straining to hear her mother’s voice in the night as Marty slept - and so on. It was a safe place for her and her alone, and Lisa would _never_ let Marty violate the one thing that still kept her sane.

In the days afterward, Lisa would find whatever time she could to play on her Gameboy. It was a solace, holding it in her hands reminding her of the very first time she did, with Brad watching her play Pokémon Silver in the mild afternoon light. Though Brad had promised to share it with her, the moments where they were able to play together became fewer and further in between, and soon the Gameboy held a permanent spot under Lisa’s bed. She beat the game the day Brad had left the house for good, and it took everything in her to not smash the device, or throw it out the window. It was a joke, leaving Lisa with the Gameboy and a single game, but taking any spare batteries with him as he left. Eventually Lisa couldn’t even find it in her to be angry at him anymore, and stopped questioning why he couldn’t have taken her with him. It wouldn’t change the fact that Brad had left his defenceless sister alone, with the monster they had to call their father.

Still, Lisa hung onto the device like some kind of hope, clinging onto it in some futile attempt to imagine herself somewhere away from home, in a better time until its battery died for good, and its 8bit melody ceased to play forever.

**Author's Note:**

> i WILL Die on th Hill tht lisa nd brad owned a gbc nd played pkmn together bt writing th end made me sad  
> (ALSO i Dont Know How Long Gameboy Colour Batteries Last bt pretend in th lisa universe they inexplicably last a Long While)


End file.
